Tulsa massacre remains to be reinterred in private ceremony

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The remains of 19 bodies that were exhumed as part of a city search for unmarked burials from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will be reinterred during a private ceremony this week, city officials said.

The bodies were exhumed in June and examined at an on-site laboratory by forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield, whose findings have not been made public, the Tulsa World reported.

Efforts to identify the remains through records and possibly DNA are ongoing, according to the city.

Stubblefield has said earlier that the remains appeared to include men, women and children. In at least one set of male remains, a bullet was found in the shoulder. Other parts of the man’s remains showed similar signs of trauma, including to the head.

The ceremony will be held Friday, and Oaklawn Cemetery will be closed Wednesday through Friday, city officials said.

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For more AP coverage of the Tulsa Race Massacre anniversary, go to https://apnews.com/hub/tulsa-race-massacre